Random Chance
by sayvil
Summary: A Post Graduation CC fic in which the podsquad has an encounter that reveals more about the past of both the aliens and the humans and their possible destinies together. It's a tad marysueish but has a plot so please enjoy and forgive the bits of cheese.
1. Chapter 1

**_Random Chance_**

The girl's black hair was coiled into a tight bun and covered by an artist's beret. Her eyes were hidden behind dark shades and her only other distinguishing marks were concealed by a draping wine colored peasant shirt with long sleeves that ended in ruffled triangles at the center of her palms. Her 'disguise' was completed with long dark blue jeans mostly concealing the black boots that added a good three inches to her normal height. Her thumb restlessly moved against the base of her ring finger, rubbing back and forth with increasing friction against the bare skin.

Though she had only had the ring for one day she already missed its presence and felt its lack as much as if she had been wearing it for years, even decades. She sighed and resumed staring intently at the doors, a smile lighting her face as the tall muscled figure she had been waiting less than patiently for appeared from the tall glass panels that fronted the airport's main lounge. She slipped quickly through the few people milling in between her and her dark haired handsome lover and flung herself into his arms, planting a loving and very thorough kiss on his sensual mouth. A rush of images entered her mind, flashing one after the other in lightning quick succession;

_A bright light filling his vision as he looked out over a sea of faces._

_A tiny baby cradled in a woman's arms._

_A flash of New York's skyline and other distinctly familiar faces, but oddly distorted in his mind._

_A white room filled with pain and fear._

_A girl, dark haired and dark eyed, her gaze overflowing with love..._

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Kyle sighed, tapping his foot in a restless staccato pattern on the tiled floor and watching the other five with his usual sardonic gaze. The past few weeks had left them all in a high state of tension and the original aliens were the worst of the lot, well one of them at least, utterly paranoid and totally focused on their safety, completely ignoring the inherent fun potential in a road trip across the United States, even if it was spurred on by the constant threat of discovery. He glanced around the large room, no one was even paying attention to the group of teens, and no one had, not for over two weeks.

He sighed again, his gaze once more resting on their little band of intrepid adventurers. He snorted under his breath and waved his hand dismissively at Liz when she looked at him questioningly, one eyebrow raised. She gazed at him a moment more, then turned her attention back to the quiet discussion Michael and Max were having about their next move, his own attention drifting to the tall silent brunette standing at the very edge of their circle. Isabel had been silent far too much since they had left Roswell and he was worried about her, even beyond his pointless infatuation. He sent a silent prayer winging its way to Buddha and approached her.

"What's up babe?" He asked, putting on his best chauvinistic male smile. She turned her head to look at him, her perfectly arched eyebrows tilted slightly and one corner of her mouth raising up in a half smile.

"Hello Kyle."

He grinned, feeling a faint sense of relief and accomplishment at the smile on her face. "Hello Isabel, how it's hangin'?"

She shook her head and sighed, "Its 'hangin'' just fine I suppose."

He kept his grin up but it took an effort, the lack of enthusiasm, the lack of life in her voice made him worry even more. He knew leaving Jesse had been the hardest thing she ever had to do, in a long list of hard things she'd had to do in her life and he was worried that it might permanently change her personality, a personality that he loved despite his best intentions. He was about to speak again when he heard the two voices behind him grow louder, the sounds of a disagreement becoming evident. He and Isabel exchanged similarly resigned looks and turned to join the two arguing hybrids.

"We need to keep moving, we can't stay here. We should at least get out of town, camp out or something, away from people." Michael said, his voice intense.

Maria sighed, albeit internally; this was how it had been since they left. Max trying to get them to hide in plain site, live as normally as possible with Michael preaching extreme caution, staying away from people, avoiding big cities, doing without everything that wasn't necessary for survival. She loved the boy, but, they couldn't go on like this, she was _not_ going to camp out like some savage when she could stay in a perfectly respectable hotel and maybe even enjoy a little night life. And the constant paranoia was driving them all insane, you couldn't live and be afraid of everything, it just wasn't possible. She felt Isabel and Kyle come up behind her and join the group, noting the resigned looks on their faces and knowing her own probably mirrored it.

Leaving their problems behind them had sounded a lot easier than it was turning out to be, despite seeing no signs of pursuit since a few weeks after they left Michael refused to let down his guard and his motto of Constant Vigilance was getting on all of their nerves.

"This isn't a discussion Michael, we are getting a hotel room and getting some rest, we all need a chance to relax and strategize and we can't just keep town hopping with no sense of overall direction. We ditched the van, our only link to Roswell, they can't trace us anymore."

"You're not the King anymore Max, you said so yourself."

Max threw his hands up, "You're right, I'm not, we'll make it a vote, who wants to find a hotel?"

Everyone's hands rose into the air except Michael's, and Maria's. Her eyes met Liz's and understanding passed between them, she couldn't desert him, not after he had come back for her, had finally admitted and accepted his love for her. Not after she had abandoned him and realized almost too late that she couldn't bear to lose him.

"Alright, we're going to a hotel." Max said, his voice quieter this time, less frustrated.

Michael remained silent but Maria could feel the tension in him as she laid her hand on his arm. He looked down at her and a faint smile crossed his face, his eyes expressing the gratitude that he could not. She smiled back and rested her head against his shoulder, drawing comfort from his presence and knowing he was drawing comfort from hers.

Max blinked as the sun hit his eyes. They had been flying all night and the inside of the airport lounge was quite dark compared to the bright Missouri sky. He scanned the crowds, trying to sense if there was anyone who wished them harm. No one seemed to be paying any attention to him and he was about to turn around to let the others know it was ok when a girl's body collided with his, her lips pressing against his own and her mouth parting as she kissed him as passionately as he had ever been kissed. He was about to shove her away when the flashes penetrated his mind, images flowing through his suddenly established connection with the girl.

They were blurred and short; barely distinguishable from one another.

He did see his face but not his at the same time.

And a laptop screen, fuzzy, but clearly containing symbols like the ones in the cave.

He also saw the white room or a room nearly identical to it and felt intense pain, this image even more indistinct than the rest.

The connection suddenly stopped and he was left gasping, his wide eyes locked on the girl in front of him, her expression eerily similar to his own.

Michael had not liked the idea of ditching the van and flying to a different state. He had felt far too exposed while buying the tickets and the process of getting on and off the plane had worked him to a fever pitch of paranoia by the time they reached their destination. After their 'discussion' he had watched as Max stepped out the building, waiting for him to assess the situation before bringing the others out after him.

He had seen the girl running towards Max and moved instinctively forward, fear gripping a hold of him and a swell of anger rising at the thought that their enemies, any of them, had at last found them. When the girl kissed Max he had thought for a second that he was hallucinating or that he was experiencing some sort of mindwarp but then he had heard Liz's gasp and looked down in time to see her running for the doors, faint green electricity barely visible around her fingertips.

Liz ran, not even noticing that the others were following her, Michael calling her name in an urgent tone. She had felt the power build up inside of her instantly just as it had that fateful day when Tess came back. She shoved through the swinging doors and reached Max's side an instant later, her angry eyes falling on the oddly dressed girl in front of him, the power dimming as she saw the shocked expression on the girl's face and looking up saw the same expression on the face of her husband. She took his hand in hers and turned back to the girl, her eyes doing their level best to bore angry holes into her skull, fully prepared to bring that swell of power back if necessary.

She had pulled her mouth from his and taken two steps back, her lips parted in surprise, her eyes taking in the similar look on the young man's face and the looks of anger, confusion, and fear on the faces of the five people who had followed him out of the building and now stood ranged around him, all staring at her intently, one with a particularly accusing look in her dark brown eyes. The other girl's fingers moved to interlace with the man she had just so passionately kissed, revealing the wedding band she had failed to notice in her impatience. A faint flush moved over her features and she gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I thought he was mine."


	2. Chapter 2

Sean had tucked the newly purchased tickets in his pocket and was about to leave the building when he had decided to surprise Winter, something she frequently did to him and he rarely did in return, at least successfully. He made his way through the mass of people that filled the lounge and circled around the building, coming out from a different set of doors that were a ways behind Winter's slender form. He smiled as he saw her impatient bouncing and began to walk slowly towards her when she broke into a run. He stopped; utterly confused until he saw who she was running for. The blood drained from his face and he too broke into a run. They knew that some of their kind were shape shifters and that not all of them were friendly, if this was one of those...His steps quickened and he ran even faster, trying to push his way through the crowds that had suddenly taken on a menacing aura, if anything happened to her…

Their faces did not grow less confused or angry and the situation was about to grow unbearably tense when Winter felt a familiar presence behind her and sighed internally with relief. She reached back and finding his hand pulled him forward into clear view beside her. The young man who had been about to speak's mouth shut with an audible snap as he locked gazes with someone he could easily have used as a shaving mirror, the others reactions less audible but just as clearly shocked to her eyes.

The dark eyed girl was the first to recover and she spoke directly to the young woman whose position now so closely mirrored hers, hand intertwined with the one she loved. "It's ok; I can see why you made the mistake." A slightly sardonic grin crossed her face though it quickly disappeared and the anger was gone from her eyes, the fear and confusion still lingering like shadows in their chocolate depths.

She smiled back, though once her eyes had traveled the circle it quickly died. The other six faces were rather removed from such happy things as smiles and their dark and concerned expressions did not bode well for any happening in the near future. She stepped forward before anyone else could speak and cleared her throat, drawing all their gazes, the intensity of which made her briefly reconsider her actions in the moment before she spoke. "This is not the place for what will inevitably be a long conversation. We," she gestured to herself and the young man behind her, "have a hotel room, I think that would be a little more discreet than this." She said, waving her hand at the busy airport where their little group was already drawing a few odd looks.

Max had noted the looks they were getting and did want to leave the area as soon as possible, but, go with them? He looked around his little group. Isabel seemed indifferent, as she had seemed frequently in the weeks since they had fled Roswell. Maria and Kyle both simply looked curious though their postures betrayed their wariness. He could tell that Liz wanted to go with the two; something seemed to have passed between her and the girl that had kissed him, some sort of recognition. His eyes met Michael's and he knew that he at least was as unhappy with the idea as he was, if not more. The last duplicates they had met had had less than honorable intentions. He was about to say something to that effect when the girl's voice once again filled the air.

Winter felt the others instant concern at possible exposure and was content that most of them would agree but, she watched the silent exchange between the one who looked so much like the person whom she would willing give up her life for and had in fact and then the face immediately to his right, a clearly suspicious young man, and spoke again, sensing their unwillingness. "We're not like they were, this is our home and we have no desire for another, me just being here should prove that." Startled expressions crossed their faces, followed by identically cautious expressions at how she had known to say that.

However the increasing attention they were drawing seemed to convince them that she was right and this was not the place, however great the risk was to go with them, the risk was greater to stay here and that however much they didn't trust them, they needed to know who they were and what they knew.

Her partner spoke for the first time, "We have a taxi waiting, it shouldn't be too hard to get another, I don't think we'll all fit in ours." He gestured to their group with brought the total number of young people to eight. He turned, not losing a hold of her hand and the others followed after exchanging one last glance, warning and agreement, they would go, but they would not trust, not yet.

When they reached the taxi's Max had to make a quick decision, two of them would have to travel with these strangers and he indicated to Michael with a nod of his head that he and Liz would do so while Michael could take the others in the second taxi and reinforce the message that they were to reveal as little about themselves as possible until they knew more. He felt bone weary as they waited for the second taxi to pull up and got all eight of them, and his six's bags, situated in the trunks and seats of both of them.

Despite his declaration that he was resigning leadership, as Michael had so pointedly reminded him inside the Airport, more often than not it seemed that he was taking charge, simply for lack of anyone else doing so and it was beginning to wear on him, the continued responsibility he felt to all of these people, the responsibility he felt to keep them safe. Liz looked back at him and smiled as she stepped into the cab and he felt himself relax as he always did in the warm reassurances of her love.

Sean told their cab driver that the other cab would be following them and then settled back into his seat, his arm wrapping around Winter as he dropped a kiss onto the top of her head, her hat now in her lap along with her glasses. He turned his eyes to the young man and woman sitting on the other side of her, studying them. The young man looked identical to him, differences in haircut and clothing the only thing telling them apart. The lines around his eyes told the same story the lines around his did, and when he looked into those disturbingly familiar brown eyes he saw the same worries and stresses he saw when he looked into the mirror.

His gaze shifted down to the petite brunette who was studying the two of them with a scholar's light in her chocolate eyes. Her hand was still linked with that of his double and he could see the rings they both wore, their love and commitment clear to the world. He reflexively glanced down at the small hand resting on his leg, half expecting to see the ring he had placed on it last night until he remembered they had agreed to leave it at the hotel room, wanting to remain as undistinguishable as possible.

His reverie was interrupted by the voice of his beloved. "We have room service back at the Hotel if you all are hungry; I know I'm always starving after flying." She said, smiling friendlily at the two though he could feel the faint tension in her shoulders. She trusted them, he could only assume because of her powers, and she wanted them to trust her. Knowing she could keep the conversation going for a moment he reached out with his mind for the others, he needed to let them know who was coming, prepare them for the shock and get them ready for any actions necessary if Winter's trust was misplaced.

Liz smiled back at the girl and said "That would be great; plane food leaves much to be desired."

The girl nodded, an empathizing smile in her silvery green eyes and laughed slightly. "That it does." Silence fell for a moment, the 'twins' were staying resolutely silent and Liz realized with a sigh that it was going to be up to the two of them to keep up any semblance of civil conversation.

She knew she should wait to ask any important questions until they were all together and cast around for a safe conversation topic. "Done a lot of flying?" She finally asked, her mind completely empty of anything to talk about that wasn't alien related.

"Lately yes." The girl replied, her tone mingled amusement and weariness. "You?"

"Not much but I have a feeling I won't be able to say that for long." She said, then feeling Max tense decided to change the topic again before revealing anything more. She still wasn't sure why she felt that they didn't have to worry about what they told them, and she wasn't sure why she already trusted the girl who sat next to her on the seat of the cab but until she did know, Max was right, it wasn't safe to say anything. "So how bout 'them Raiders?"

It went silent for a moment, then her and the other girl locked gazes and both giggled simultaneously while the two males unconsciously exchanged knowing glances tinged with amusement and exasperation and then realizing they had done so both quickly returned to their previously distant expressions, unknowingly affording the girls more amusement.

Michael stared out the window at the taxi they were following and then glanced at the taxi driver to make sure he was fully engrossed in the music he was blasting from the radio and the traffic he was weaving in and out of before turning to the others. "I think we all know what I'm going to say." He said, his mouth making a sharp line across his face as he met each one of their gazes.

Kyle opened his mouth and said in a mildly sarcastic tone "Don't trust them, don't tell them anything, be prepared to run away, flee for our lives, or stand back and let you blow them up, did I get the general drift?"

Michael gave him a mild glare before reluctantly nodding, "Yes, you got the drift. Just because he looks like Max doesn't mean he's good, the others we met definitely were not."

Kyle interrupted again "You really are gonna have to tell me about these others sometime since clearly I had disappeared off the face of the earth or something when you met them or whatever."

Michael glared at him again and he subsided into silence though Michael could tell he wasn't going to be silent for long. "Just be careful, they could be killers just like Lonnie and Rath were, no matter what that girl said." He looked down at Maria as he said this last bit, she was the most vulnerable of all of them and he couldn't bear it if something happened to her, he would kill again, even one of his own kind, just to prevent her from getting hurt. They all nodded and the back of the cab settled into silence, Michael alternating his gaze between the view outside the taxi and the beautiful young woman leaning on his shoulder.

Isabel had quickly drifted back into her own world after Michael's little speech, ignoring the little glances Kyle was giving her. She knew he was worried about her, she knew they all were, but she just couldn't bring to herself to act normal. She hadn't seen Jesse in over a month and what scared her the most wasn't that she might never see him again but that she would survive if she didn't, that she would be ok, not happy, not like she had been, but ok and that, not her desperate desire to see her husband again, was what had kept her so silent and withdrawn in the weeks since they had left.

The first week had not been so bad; the camaraderie between the six of them had grown greatly as they became closer emotionally as a result of their enforced physical closeness. Max and Liz's wedding had been beautiful despite its hurried nature, but, it had reminded her of her own wedding, and her, for now, broken marriage. Her misery had been profound, her depression lasting for days, but, to her surprise, it had begun to lift, bit by bit over the following weeks she had begun to adjust, she still missed Jesse, thought about him almost every minute, but the grief had all but gone and she knew she would be able to go about her life until she could see him again, normal and happy, relatively speaking, and the guilt she felt from that knowledge weighed her down as much as her original depression over their departure had.

How could she continue to live? How could she go on without her husband? She had vowed to love him until death parted them and he had vowed the same, she had lied to him and he had stayed true to her despite it, helping them escape, even killing for them, he had saved their lives and she was betraying him by not living her life in mourning, by not being miserable every moment of every day. A part of her knew this was ridiculous, that Jesse would not want her to be miserable, that he would want her to be happy but she just couldn't get rid of the guilt, she wasn't sure she wanted to. A slight jerk broke her out of her reverie and she looked up to see the taxi they were following pulling out of traffic.

Their cab followed it and pulled to a halt in front of a surprisingly large and luxurious hotel. The four of them got out and Isabel gazed up at the building, a hint of a pleasantly surprised smile crossing her face. So far all they had stayed in, when not sleeping in the van before they had sold it to an extremely forgetful old man, was crappy little motels that, if they were lucky, were only dirty versus dirty and cockroach infected. A Hotel as nice as this had never even been considered, despite the fact that with their powers money was not an issue, they all still tended to behave as if they needed to watch how much they spent, and, she supposed, those crappy little motels were less likely to have thorough records of their visitors. Clearly these others had found a way around this. They each grabbed their one bag, Liz and Max coming over, and exchanging a few quiet words with Michael before following their two waiting companions into the Hotel lobby.

Her brother's look alike nodded at the man behind the desk before leading them into an elevator and pushing the button for the third floor. The elevator ride was completed in awkward silence, no one knowing exactly what to say or what they even could say, the only thing filling the air besides breathing was the cheerful notes of the elevator music, Isabel amused to see that Kyle was tapping his foot along to the beat. The music was halted by a ding as the elevator slid to a halt, the doors opened and they all stepped into the hall, the two strangers leading them towards a door at the end, the girl stepped through while the young man held it open for the six of them.

They all filed in, Isabel surprised to see not a normal hotel room but the main room of what was clearly a suite. Her eyes traveled around the room before falling on the two other occupants of it, her eyes meeting deep brown ones, identical to her own, the blond hair framing the face the same as hers had been for most of her life. All doubt that this was a setup, that the other Max was a shapeshifter, or that they had been mindwarped into believing he looked like he did was gone. She might as well have been looking in a mirror and was sure Michael was feeling the same way.

There was a tense silence for a moment, then the two dark haired girls came to separate decisions to break the ice. They both held out their hands and said "I'm Liz." "I'm Winter." Simultaneously. They smiled and shook hands, both sensing the same kindred spirit they had felt in each other since the airport.

Winter turned slightly so she was facing everyone in the room, raised her free hand and gestured to the others of her group, "That's Kat.. Katherine, and Devin." She dropped that hand and raised the one that was still linked with her dark haired young man's and said "And this is Sean."

The girl with the long reddish blond hair in the other group let out a short snort of laughter that died at an admonishing look from Liz though amusement was still clearly visible in her eyes. Liz turned back to Winter and the others and smiled "That's Maria and the brooding young man hovering behind her is Michael." Her smile widened slightly though something in her eyes belied the assumed increase in amusement. "The brunette goddess is Isabel and he is Kyle." She said gesturing to Kat's look-alike and the young man standing a few feet from her. "As for mine," she said with a slight wink to Winter, "His name is Max."

Winter winked back, her own smile widened as well though she had noticed that Isabel hadn't really reacted to her introduction and seemed withdrawn somewhat from the rest of the group. She was however eyeing Kat, who was eyeing right back and Devin and Michael seemed to have engaged in a game of Who Blinks First.

She shook her head and gestured to the long couch and two arm chairs that filled the room while settling herself on the ground in front of them and pulling Sean down with her. She rested against his chest, her legs crossed, his extended out to either side of her. Kat and Devin seating themselves at one end of the couch, thus placing all of their group is less threatening positions.

As Winter had hoped this caused the others to relax somewhat and they were soon following their example. Michael and Maria sat on the other end of the couch while Isabel and Kyle each took an arm chair. Liz surveyed this and then promptly seated herself close to the two on the floor, Max settling beside her and unconsciously mimicking Sean and Winter's position. Winter took a breath and began what she knew was a talk that would last well into tomorrow despite the fact that it was only now five in the evening. "So, I assume we're all aware of the otherworldliness of most of this room's inhabitants." Sean, Kat, and Devin gave faint nods, the others reluctantly following suit a moment later.

She gave them all an understanding smile and continued "I understand your reluctance, and with everyone's permission." She said, glancing around the room but mainly focusing on Kat and Devin, unable to really look at Sean from this position, "I'll tell our story first?" Her group nodded.

Sean and the others were confident in their powers; if these others weren't trustworthy they would be able to defend themselves. Besides, they were them, not only their doubles but the first other aliens they had ever met. If sharing their story helped them to trust that they were trustworthy, then that was all to the good.

Max however, held up his hand in interruption, "First, I'd still like to know just how exactly you knew what Michael and I were thinking." The tension had crept back into the room and she could see the change in the newcomers as Max reminded them of their suspicions, all of them sitting straighter and withdrawing as much as possible from her own group.

"I didn't know what you were thinking, not exactly anyways, but I knew what you were feeling and when I kissed you," Kat and Devin's eyes widened and their mouths formed perfect O's as this information passed her lips, she gave them a warning look and they remained silent though she could tell that this wasn't going to be the last time she heard about it. "I saw that you had met others like us, the third foursquare."

Now it was her groups turn to tense up, she felt it in Sean as his muscles tightened and the arm that was draped around her waist drew her closer to him, Kat and Devin had interest and calculating looks on their faces, their first meeting with their 'twins' and it turned out it wasn't the first for them. "And," she continued, "I saw from the flash that they weren't trustworthy, that they had done something to you, so when I saw you and Michael and felt what you were feeling, I knew you were worried that we too would betray you, that we would try to hurt you."

Their group was exchanging glances, clearly verifying that what she had said was true, while her own group, she could see the worry on their faces. They had always worried that their enemies would find them, but the idea that they themselves, or at least another form of them, had become enemies...it brought back to many bad memories and awakened to many more fears.

Max turned to her, his face still suspicious, "What do you mean you 'felt' what we were feeling?"

As all their eyes rested on her once more she tried to think how to phrase what she was about to say, "I could feel what you were feeling because I've been changed, I'm no longer a normal girl, and because of that change I have certain gifts, certain abilities, just as she does." She said, gesturing to Liz.

Everyone's gaze turned on the other girl for a moment but soon returned to Winter, Max speaking once more "How did you..."

It was her turn to interrupt and she did so, raising her hand and speaking before he could continue, "I could sense it in her just as I can sense it in the three of you," pointing to Isabel, Michael, and himself, "Can't you sense it in the four of us?"

Max did not continue speaking and she could tell by the thoughtful expression on his face that either he hadn't tried, or wasn't aware that he could. Before anyone else could respond Liz spoke up, her eyes meeting Winter's, "I think I can, I think that's why I trusted you at the airport, I could tell that we were the same."

Winter nodded, that sameness was one of the reasons she herself had trusted the other girl. To everyone's surprise it was Michael who spoke next, growling out an abrupt, "Well I don't know about the rest of you but I would like to hear this story, questions can wait until after, and there will definitely be more questions."

Winter smiled and nodded her acquiescence, cocking an eyebrow at Max. There was silence for a moment more and then he gestured his agreement. "Very well," Winter said, "Our story."

Devin, Kat, and Sean were interested despite themselves in how the others would respond to their past and the others were very curious, wondering how familiar this story would sound, how many questions it would answer, and how many more it would bring up. They still weren't resigned to trusting this group but their willingness to share what they knew, assuming they weren't lying, was a good sign. It had been a long lonely summer so far and the idea of trusting someone again, while scary, was also very tempting for the six teenagers.

Winter shifted slightly, getting as comfortable as possible and then opening her mouth, began the tale.


	3. Chapter 3

"It all began about 12 years ago when over the course of two months four young children were found wandering in the extensive fields outside a small town in the northeast of this fair country." She saw the flickers of recognition in the eyes of her listeners and was amused by her own rather grandiose word choices, but otherwise ignored their reactions and concentrated on her story.

"Two of them, a little girl and boy, were found by a passing motorist and taken to the local police station. It was quickly determined that their whereabouts and family were completely unknown to any in the town and that, as unfortunate as it may be; they had probably been abandoned by someone traveling through these parts. They were kept as the local orphanage for a certain waiting period, just in case a report came in of two missing children. There was no report however and a short three weeks after they were found a local couple adopted them, a well off family from the nicer part of town who had a son who was ten years old and who desperately wanted siblings, siblings his parents were unable to provide on their own."

"The third had found his way into the stables of the richest and most reclusive resident of the town, the owner of the local computer company that was the source of most of the town's profits. The youngster's adventurous spirit and way with his horses apparently won him over and he quickly cut through all the usual red tape, adopting the boy that very week and as he had no family he chose to acknowledge, he made the young boy his heir as well." She paused for a moment, letting them absorb what they had heard so far, each of them noting the similarities and differences from their own tale.

"The fourth child Desi, was adopted a month later by another local couple, less well off but well respected in the community. Unfortunately her adoptive mother died less than a year later and the grieving man was left to raise her on his own." This was the first part of the story to bring surprise to their eyes though it soon disappeared as they adjusted to this one large difference from their own experiences.

Max had been wondering why there was no Tess in the group, after all the 'foursquare' as the girl had called it, from New York had had an Ava, where was theirs? He knew Liz was curious too for he had felt her tense slightly at the mention of this Desi and after giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, focused himself back on the unfolding story.

"The four entered the school system and quickly recognized the bond between them, growing closer every day until they were all drawn to venture into the same fields that held their first memories. They found themselves in a well hidden cave in the hills that surrounded the valley that their town lay in, accessible only by the touch of one of their hands and within it found the answers to the mysteries of their past. They found a large golden gem, two orbs of an unknown material that strangely resembled nerf footballs apart from the glowing blue symbol etched into their surfaces. And they found a book, a book that despite never having seen the language it was written in before they could all read."

"It explained everything. It told them of their past lives as the royal court in a far off planet. It told them of the war that led to their demise and the plan that enabled their essence to live on, encased in these human bodies and sent to earth where they could learn and grow only to return and regain their thrones. They learned that they were not the only ones to have been sent, that there were two other sets as well and that they, unlike those other two, were not known to the government or its enemies, only to a small secret organization within the government that feared that other two would not survive, that they would be found by the same enemies that had defeated them in their first lives and would be killed or compromised."

She paused for a breath, noting the increasingly widened eyes of the other group, three of whom were what remained of one of those other sets. She smiled a sad smile, an internal one and then forged on; this was only the beginning of the beginning of all that she would tell that night. "They read of their powers, some of which they had already discovered and the rest of which they determined to learn and perfect. There was more, much more, but that's all that was relevant at that time. Though one member of the group disagreed, the rest convinced her and it was decided that for now at least they would ignore this plan for their life, this destiny."

"There were two other sets of themselves out there that could fulfill this duty and even if they were the only ones left, what could they truly do to help a planet they might not ever be able to reach with a war they couldn't even begin to comprehend with a people who might not even accept them as they were now. They decided to live their life here on this earth with the families they had come to love. They would study and enhance their powers as much as possible and gather as much knowledge as they could from the book and other things left in the cave but they would not seek out any others of their kind and they would do their best to avoid notice from them and from the human community, for even at that age they understood that were they to be discovered the consequences could be deadly."

Michael was regretting his declaration that no more questions would be asked until the end, these people knew! They knew about their pasts, about their planet, they knew everything! And despite his decision to remain with Maria, to accept this human life, he had not lost the drive to know about his past to know who he used to be and what it meant to his life now, to who he was now and how much alike or different he was now from who he had been then. He ground his teeth and seeing Maria's understanding smile as she turned her face up to his, resigned himself to waiting for the answers he so desperately wanted. After all, he was curious about these others, especially Devin. He lightly kissed Maria's forehead and then turned his attention back to Winter, trying to immerse himself in her story.

"So they grew up, to all appearances normal human children and then normal human teens. Kat and Sean's father worked at Devin's father's company so their families became close and they spent most of their time in and out of school together. Desi too spent a lot of time with them though her father rarely left the house, his work could be done at home and he had not really ventured into the world since his wife died. Kat was popular as was to be expected."

She said with a smile, noting the amused glances all in the room exchanged and the knowing nods the two alien princesses gave each other. "Desi too though mostly as Kat's friend. Devin was mostly reclusive except for his friend Sean, the rising basketball star of our highschool. He and Kat began their relationship freshman year and are still happily together."

She stopped as she saw the surprise on all of their faces and the concern on Michael's, Isabel's, and especially Maria's face. "They're together because they like each other as people in this life, not because of anything in their past lives, they did not love each other on Antar and they know that, they just happen to do so on Earth, it has _nothing_ to do with Destiny."

She noted the faint relaxation in all of them and returned the smile Maria gave her, hoping she had relieved any fears that she had unwittingly caused with her statement but determined to forge ahead; this story was going to take long enough to tell and she still wanted to hear theirs.

"Sean however did not love Desi in this life as he had in the last and she had accepted this and was making her way through the ranks of young available males in the highschool. He remained single until junior year."

She met Liz's gaze and something passed between them, an understanding that only they were aware of. She matched her smile and then returned her gaze to the rest of the room. "I knew Kat and Sean as my father worked closely with theirs at Devin's dad's company. And Desi I knew from school, we weren't exactly friends but we did talk and we had hung out at a few parties. I also knew Kat from school though we didn't exactly move in the same circles."

Kat interrupted and spoke for the first time, "You were rather popular yourself Miss Cheerleader." Winter laughed and flushed faintly, acknowledging the amused glances the other six were giving her. "Yes, I was a cheerleader, and I still wasn't half as high on the food chain as Kat was." She chuckled softly and then continued. "I knew Sean mostly from games; he was our star player and therefore the subject of many of our chants. But we never really spoke until one fateful night in the beginning of November, two years ago."

She took a breath and felt Sean squeeze her hand lightly, she smiled, taking strength from his quiet presence and began the story of the path that had led them here, to this hotel room, her mind drifting back to that night, her memory of it still as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

"It was a Saturday night and we were on our way back from an away game in a nearby town. Which we had won of course, thanks largely to Sean here, and of course our fabulous cheering." She said tossing her hair back and posing slightly with a coquettish look on her face.

The girls giggled and the guys exchanged amused glances over the vagaries of female behavior. Devin finally pitching in a comment with "He really doesn't need his ego inflated any more Winter, you should know that."

She just laughed and waved her hand dismissively at him before continuing with her story. "I was sitting in the back, doing homework; everyone else was sitting in the front rows, except for Sean here who was sitting in the seat behind mine, apparently, from what he told me later." She said, turning and favoring him with a smile and a light kiss before facing the rest of the group again, "trying to work up the nerve to talk to me...

_Winter sighed and rolled her shoulders, she simply could not focus tonight, every time she tried to write her mind kept drifting away. She glared at the blank paper for a moment then laughed silently at herself, tucked the notebook and pen back in her bag and stared out the window, a smile crossing her face as she remembered the final shot of the game and the wild cheering as they won, as _he_ won. She blushed faintly and looking towards the front of the bus was surprised to not spot him among the excitedly chattering athletes, she was about to look behind her to see if for some reason he had sat in the back of the bus when two blinding bright lights filled her vision and she heard the first screams as the bus jerked and swerved to the side, she felt herself lifted from her seat and felt intense pain, then all went black, her last sight that of the bus on its side, flashing lights, and the sounds of people screaming. _

Winter blinked, her mind returning to the present and noting the surprised faces of those in her audience to whom this tale was not familiar. She smiled faintly and continued. "Some drunken idiot had smashed into a car in front of us. The bus driver swerved to miss the two cars and flipped completely over, landing in a ditch on the side of the road. Almost everyone was ok, just bumped and bruised, a few sprains and a broken bone or two, but Sean and I were both thrown from the bus, through the back window."

She paused and sighed lightly, "I was unconscious for most of this so I'm telling you what Sean told me. He came to less than a minute after and healed his broken arm, he looked around to see if anyone else had been thrown out and saw me lying on the ground a few feet away, I'd been impaled by a tree branch about this wide." She circled her thumb and forefinger, glancing at Sean to confirm the width; he had her widen it a bit and then nodded. She swallowed and paled a bit but then shook it off and continued, doing her best to ignore the expressions of the rest of the group.

"Right about here," she gestured to her lower abdomen, "I had broken a couple ribs and had sprained my left wrist, other than that I was ok except for a few bruises and scratches. He made me look at him, all I remember are his eyes, so concerned and then a warm sensation as he dissolved the tree branch and healed the wound as well as my ribs." She wrapped his arms more tightly around her and smiled a sweet and utterly happy smile, "He saved my life that night."

Max recovered somewhat from the horror of what they had just been told, shaking off the memory of the terror and ensuing drama of their car accident sophomore year and smiled down at Liz, remembering when he had saved her life, and she his, not surprised to find her smiling back up at him. She lifted up her hand and rested it on his cheek, all the love and gratitude she felt shining in her eyes. He took her hand and kissed it, then wrapped his arms more securely around her and turned his gaze back to the couple seated in front of him.

Winter saw the tender moment exchanged by Liz and Max and felt the flaring of curiosity at what had happened to bring them together. She suppressed it for the moment and went on. "We were both taken in an ambulance to the nearest hospital, along with most of the rest of the students and one of the teachers. Sean just had a few bruises so they didn't draw blood or anything, thankfully.

"Other than my wrist I had some cuts and a mild concussion but was otherwise alright." She gave a wry smile, "They kept telling us how lucky we were to have gotten off so lightly." The others smiled back knowingly and she continued. "After they had finished with me, he came in to my room while we waited for our parents to arrive. The second he stepped through the door I demanded that he tell me everything!" She heard a chuckle from Max and saw the faint flush on Liz's cheeks.

_Winter stared at the ceiling, her brain swirling faster than she could keep up with. What had happened? Mrs. Groman had told her about the crash and that everyone else was okay, that she was going to be okay. But, she knew she shouldn't be. Her memories of what had happened were still fuzzy but she knew she had been flung from the bus, she knew that she had been hurt too, she remembered...She remembered pain, there, she looked down as she touched her lower stomach. But, nothing was there, no wound, no bandage. And those eyes, she remembered dark brown eyes, filled with concern and a voice that kept telling her to look at someone, if only she could remember who! There was a noise at the door and she looked up and there he was! It was him, but, how? He stepped in and closed the door, hesitating for a moment as if unsure whether or not to approach her. "Tell me everything Sean, and I mean everything!"_

"And he did, he told me that he was a reincarnated alien, that there were three others and who they were, he told me about their powers and a brief bit about their past and that they had decided to live as normal as lives as possible and that their very lives depended on me not telling anyone about it."

_Winter gaped, she knew her mouth was hanging open and that she probably looked like an idiot but she couldn't seem to bring herself to close it. How was this even possible, she had known Kat and Sean and Desi for forever, Devin too though she didn't think she'd ever really had an entire conversation with him. How could they be aliens? But, it had to be true, he had shown her what he could do when he had told her they had powers and her, he had healed her, she wasn't crazy. She touched her stomach again and then closed her mouth with a snap, this was real and she would just have to deal with it. _

_She looked up at him and asked the one question that defined her existence at that moment "Why did you heal me Sean? Why did you do it when you knew it could mean the end for all of you, how did you know you could trust me?" _

_His answer, three simple words, changed her far more than everything else he had told her. "It was you." She felt her heart speed up in her chest and knew that this moment was why she had been born, why everything in her life had led her to that bus. Before either of them could say anything else her parents burst into the room and rushed past him to her bed, his following them just as frantically into the room._

"Before I really had a chance to respond our parents showed up and we were both rushed into their waiting arms where they proceeded to check us over thoroughly, interrogate the doctor's mercilessly, and after exchanging greetings and commiserations rushed us into their cars so they could get us home and baby us as much as we would allow." They all shared a moment of silent agreement and faint laughter over how alike all parents were, no matter what species their children were. "I had a day to process everything before school on Monday and I spent most of it in my room, staring at the ceiling and thinking, trying to figure out exactly how much this changed my life. Sean on the other hand was being berated by the other three for healing me and even worse for telling me everything and about all of them.

Sean laughed, a reminiscent look in his dark eyes, "Yes, there was definitely berating going on, also some yelling, accusing, even some screaming if I remember correctly." Kat and Devin had the grace to blush and he noted amusedly, Isabel and Michael had similarly embarrassed expressions on their faces. He shook his head "They were not happy about it but it wasn't like there was anything we could do, I'd already told her and no one seemed to suspect anything, I'd healed her before anyone knew we were hurt so..." He shrugged, "All we could do was wait until Monday at school to see what she was going to do."

"Which," Winter picked up the story again, "was nothing, I had come to the conclusion that it didn't matter what they were, I had known them for too long to let something like this affect any of our lives, besides." Here she smiled again, "I thought it was all pretty cool, I mean, how many people got to meet aliens in their lives, and know about it, my favorite books all had aliens in them so some appearing in my life was fine with me. And I had an ulterior motive," She winked at Liz and Max, "I now knew a certain otherworldly visitor liked me, and I already knew I liked him, so, if all else failed, I could always blackmail him into dating me."

Everyone in the room laughed and Sean just shook his head, kissing the top of her head and saying with a chuckle "Like you'd need blackmail to get me to date you."

Winter just cocked an eyebrow up at him and said in an amused tone; "I almost did."

_Winter walked determinedly through the school, the faint heels of her sandals clicking rhythmically on the linoleum floor, she spotted Sean's tall frame and walking up to him, ignoring his sister and her boyfriend, took his hand and said "We need to talk." He exchanged a significant look with the other two and then followed her into a nearby empty classroom. She closed the door behind them and then turned to face him, the serious expression on her face fading into a smile. "So," She didn't say anything more, just studied him for a moment, watching as his expression went from concerned, to puzzled, and then back to concerned. _

_She bit her lip and took a deep breath, she couldn't back out now. "I never thanked you, for saving my life; I'd like to do that now." She saw the relief and puzzlement wash over his handsome face as she spoke and then stepped forward until she was standing bare inches from him, her head tilted back so their eyes remained locked. "Thank you." She whispered, then standing on the tips of her toes, brushed her lips against his. _

_He didn't react at first and a downcast expression crossed her face, maybe she had been wrong? She was about to move away when his hands cupped her face. She looked up and saw the amazement in his eyes as his thumb lightly caressed her cheek, then he bent down and returned the kiss, this one as passion filled as she could have hoped for. _

_They finally broke apart and she stood there, smiling up at him, an amused glint flicking through her green eyes as she spoke "So that's what it's like to kiss an alien." _

_He was silent for a moment and then he chuckled, nodding, "I suppose so, but," His eyes darkened and his face grew more serious. "It can't happen again, it's not safe." Her smile died, her face going blank. "I don't want you to get hurt, someday someone will find us, either the government or other aliens...I can't put you at risk, I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."_

Liz was watching the expression on Winter's face as she told the story, all the emotions she had been feeling clearly evident, the hurt, and the anger. She knew how she felt, every time Max had tried to protect her by pulling away, by keeping his distance, that's how she had felt, the pain of rejection almost too much to bear. The faraway look in Winter's eyes showed that she wasn't just telling the story, she was reliving it, and Liz now knew why she had identified so closely with the girl, even before she knew her name, however much the details differed, and they differed quite a bit, their stories were the same, she only hoped they would both have happy endings.

_The blank expression left Winter's face to be replaced by angry determination "Oh, and my safety, my life, is up to you to decide is it?" He opened his mouth to protest that was not what he had meant but she continued without pause. "I don't care Sean, I don't care if it's not safe, I don't care if we're different and those differences could kill us. This is my decision to make, not yours, you're not my King, not my leader, I can and will make my own choices and my choice is you. I want to be with you." _

_Her eyes were flashing as she finished and her small frame was tense with the rush of emotions she was feeling. He was not going to push her away, she wouldn't let him! Sean was standing there with an expression similar to hers when he first told her the truth about him. _

_Winter continued, her voice softer, "Maybe no one will ever find you, who knows? We might not even still be together then, but we can be together now, we can see if this thing between us is real, if it will last..." Before she could continue he was kissing her again, his lips firm against hers and his arms drawing her against his body. She kissed him back through her smile, she had won. _

_It was he who ended the kiss and as he looked down into her eyes, into her soul, she heard him say "I want to show you something." He touched her face and all of a sudden she could see him, the real him. She saw him curled up on a bench at the police station, holding hands with Kat. She saw him playing with his older brother, the first time he saw Devin and Desi. And she saw her, her as he saw her, and she knew she'd never be alone again._

"It was amazing. It was the first time I ever got the flashes and I knew, even more than I had known that night in the hospital, that this was meant to be, that he and I had been meant to be together no matter who he used to be." She grinned then, "However, he and I were the only ones who were sure, everyone else, well they took a little longer to convince."

_About ten more minutes had passed, mostly involving kissing, but also talking. He had told her what he had seen when he healed her and they had agreed that their relationship should progress more slowly, at least where the rest of the school was concerned, it would be a little too suspicious if both of them, one confirmedly single and the other known to never progress past casual dating, went from occasionally hanging out, mostly due to the close relationship of the basketball team and the cheerleading squad, to all over each other after one weekend, even if they used the 'bonding in the hospital' excuse, it would only get them so far. As they were leaving the classroom she placed a hand on his arm, halting him. _

"_Before we go out there, is there anything you can do about this?" She asked, he turned around to ask what she meant and saw her lifting the hem of her shirt, revealing two silver hand prints on her stomach. "These are not going to be covered by my cheerleading uniform." She said with a faint smile, "However much I'd like to keep my cool new tattoos, it isn't safe." He grinned at her and placing his hands over them again, changed the molecules back to their normal color, the pale ivory of her skin replacing the gleaming silver._

_When they walked out of the classroom they were only holding hands, nothing more, her shirt back in place and faint smiles on both of their faces, The hair framing Winter's face still a tad mussed. They were popular enough that it would only take a hallway or two for that simple gesture of intertwined hands to alert the school to the fact that something was going on between them. She smiled to herself; occasionally the very thorough and usually annoying gossip chain had its uses. _

_She turned and looked up at Sean, part of her still disbelieving that it was him she was holding hands with and the rest of her dancing up and down with joy, mentally of course. "I think we should probably go talk to Kat and Devin and Desi, reassure them that I have absolutely no intention of bringing the FBI down on your heads."_

_He nodded but she saw the worried look in his eyes and raised her eyebrows questioningly, "They might not be too happy about us." He said, a line between his eyebrows, "I want you to be prepared for some hostility."_

Winter laughed then, interrupting her own story and bringing some odd looks from her audience. "Sorry, it's just; the phrase 'some hostility' barely even begins to cover it." She grinned at Kat and Devin and after a moment they grinned back though their cheeks were rather flushed.

"Hey, at least we like you now right?" Devin said, chuckling. Winter rolled her eyes at him but the smile on her face belied any real anger.

_Winter approached the three young adults sitting at the table with more than a little trepidation, the original concern and fear on their faces had been replaced with wariness, suspicion, and in the case of one, open hatred at the sight of her and Sean holding hands. She swallowed hard but refused to be deterred, instead smiling up at him as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. They reached the table and stood there, all of them silent for a moment. She took a breath and gave them all as sincere a smile as she could muster through the ball of tension in her stomach. "Hi." _

_She resisted the urge to smack herself in the head for such an inane greeting but really, what was she supposed to say, 'Hi, I know you're aliens, I promise not to tell anyone, and oh, by the way, I'm dating one of you?' Kat and Devin responded with the faintest of smiles, both of them mostly looked wary and cold towards her, she knew they were probably just concerned that she was going to hurt Sean and tell the world about them, she understood and figured only time would prove to them that she had no intention of doing either. _

_But Desi, she was glaring at Winter with something as similar to hatred as anything she had ever seen. But why? She knew that Sean had said that in their past lives he and her had been together, but he had also said that neither of them wanted that in this life, and while Sean had remained single, Desi had been dating other guys for years, in fact half the guys on the athletic team had either dated her or wished she would date them. Why on Earth would she hate her that much when a mere two days ago they were, if anything, casual friends?_

Winter sighed and felt Sean's arms tighten around her reassuringly, this was going to be the hardest part of the story for her to tell, Desi's hatred of her...had led to things she wasn't sure she wanted to relive, but, they were an important part of the story, a story she had volunteered to tell. She rested her head against Sean's chest and continued, trying to maintain a sense of detachment from her memories as long as possible.

"Apparently Sean had been less than honest with me and while he had no desire to be with her in this lifetime, Desi had not given up all hope. As long as Sean had remained single it had never been an issue but now...Now not only was he dating someone but that someone knew their secret and didn't care, making me that much more of a threat to any hope she had of convincing Sean that they should be together. Nothing really happened for several weeks however. Sean and I's relationship progressed, more quickly in private than it did in public. And I was working on trying to get closer to the others as well. After a few run in's with Desi I hadn't even tried to be friends with her but I was determined that Kat and Devin were going to like me and no matter how many times they made it clear that I was not welcome in their group I refused to give up."

She smiled faintly, "I think they were beginning to soften towards me when something happened that changed the game entirely."

_Winter's head was down as she walked towards her first period class, she was late and she was tired and she was wishing she was still in bed. These past few weeks with Sean had been amazing; they were closer than she had ever thought it was possible to be with another person. Which was the reason she was late, they had stayed up all night talking on the phone, and unlike the aliens as she was beginning to suspect, she needed sleep, she must have turned off her alarm this morning when it went off because she knew she had set it, it was the last thing Sean had said before they hung up, reminding her to turn it on. _

_Well, not the last thing, she thought with a smile. He had said three more words, three little words that were why she had been practically glowing when she looked in her mirror, despite the fact that she knew she was going to be late and looked like crap from having five minutes to get ready. She only had one hallway to go until she could see him again and as her pace quickened she heard footsteps behind her. She turned her head, wondering who else wasn't in class and saw nobody. She frowned; she knew she had heard something. Then she collapsed, her head splitting with pain and her vision blacking out..._


	4. Chapter 4

She took a shuddering breath, trying once again to distance herself from the vividness of her memory, not for the first time she cursed her perfect recall and wished she was like her father, forgetting things five minutes after they happened. She looked up and saw the others looking at her with concern, the six newcomers tinged with the need to know what had happened.

"I'll tell the next bit." She heard Sean say and squeezed his hand gratefully, closing her eyes and taking comfort in his strong arms around her, feeling the vibrations of his voice through his chest.

"When Winter didn't show up for first period English I was worried, but figured she was just running late, I had kept her up until three in the morning." He paused, exchanging a knowing glance with Kat and Devin. They remembered this day as well as he did and with just as much desire not to. "When she hadn't shown up by lunch I was more than a little worried. I called her cell and when I got no response I called her parents. Her mom told me she had left for school a little after eight that morning. I reassured her that I had probably just missed her and went to find the others. I found Kat and Devin and we searched the school and after we didn't find her we finally thought to check the parking lot, her car wasn't there so we didn't even know if she had made it to school."

He felt Winter's tenseness and after dropping a kiss on her silky black hair continued, knowing the best thing for her was to get this part of their story over with as soon as possible.

"Up until now I hadn't been able to sense her at all, all of us had trained our abilities as much as possible and we could all sense each other, and as we had gotten closer I could, on occasion, sense Winter too, but now, when I needed to most, I hadn't been able to feel a thing. And then, I got one flash, a flash of intense pain and a distorted figure with blond hair."

He saw the flicker of recognition in the others eyes and after a breath continued. "It was then we realized that Desi was missing as well. She had been avoiding us lately so not seeing her around at school wasn't all that uncommon and hadn't triggered anything until then. We assumed that someone, either the government, or someone else with 'otherworldly' tendencies, had taken both of them, and from the pain I felt in the flash, was torturing them. Needless to say I was panicking at that point."

_Sean punched his car and then stared unseeingly at the dent it left, ignoring the pain in his hand. Devin grabbed him by the arms and shook him, "Come on man, this isn't helping, you need to focus. Where is Desi?" He just stared at his friend for a moment, not comprehending what he was saying, then reasonable thought penetrated his brain and he almost punched the car again. Of course, he couldn't sense Winter but he could sense Desi, had always been able to. He closed his eyes and sunk inside himself, reaching for that part of him that was different and then pushing out with it, along the bond that all of them shared. His eyes snapped open and before he realized it he was around the other side of the car, his keys in his hand. _

_"North, by the cave." He saw the instant fear in Kat and Devin's eyes, if whoever it was found the cave...He sat down and started the car, waiting impatiently for Kat and Devin to get in and then taking off quickly enough to leave tire tread on the pavement, turning onto the highway that led towards the fields where he and the others had been found._

_He pulled off the road and parked his car behind a stand of trees that would hide it from anyone passing on the road, then, getting out of the car began to jog towards the cave when Devin grabbed his arm to stop him, he and Kat blocking his path. "We need a plan Sean, we can't just go rushing in there, what if there's a lot of them? What if they are like us and they have more powers than we do? We need to think this through." Devin said, causing his friend to glare ferociously at him, he didn't want to plan or think, he just wanted to get Winter out of there, get her away from whoever was causing her so much pain. _

_Kat laid her hand on his arm, "If we do this wrong they might get hurt more Sean, I want them out of there too but getting ourselves caught or killed won't help them." _

_He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, his hands clenched in fists at his side. "I know Kat, I just..." He couldn't finish his sentence, too afraid that voicing his fears would cause them to become reality. "Ok, a plan." He took a deep breath and tried to force his brain to work, trying to ignore the endless chant of 'Winter is in danger and its all your fault' that kept repeating itself in his mind over and over again. "Kat, can you dreamwalk them? As long as their not being blocked by someone like us you should at least be able to reach Desi. Try and see who it is and how many of them there are."_

_She nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating while the other two stared at her, both tense with worry and their inability to help. Kat remained silent for what felt like forever, then she tensed her body going rigid and her lips moving soundlessly. He and Devin exchanged nervous glances, both feeling helpless to do anything. Kat's eyes snapped open and she stared at both of them with a confused expression on her face. _

_"Did you reach them? Either of them?" _

_She shook her head slightly, then nodded. "I couldn't reach Desi but..." She looked back up at them, some clarity apparently coming through the confusion and a hint of anger starting to appear on her beautiful face. "But I reached Winter; it was like she was coming in and out of consciousness." _

_"Did you see who was hurting her? Who took them, was it the government?" _

_"No, it was an alien, Sean, I think it was Desi."_

He heard the startled intakes of breath of those in the room who had not already lived this and saw the tension in those who had. Winter's hands were trembling and she was trying to hide it, he covered them with his own hands and resumed speaking, trying to repress his own anger.

_Sean's fists were clenched again and he was barely able to see where he was going through the red haze over his vision as he climbed the rocks that led to the cave. Devin and Kat were oddly silent as they followed him up the hill and he had a feeling that they were having a conversation even though no sound was passing their lips. He couldn't bring himself to really be curious however, he was completely focused on getting to that cave, getting Winter out of there and finding out what the hell was going on with Desi. They reached the mouth of the cave and he paused for a moment, looking back at the two who were following him. "We go in fast and get her away from Winter, that's our first priority, then we can figure out what the hell is going on and what we're going to do about it." They both nodded though once again he had the feeling that they were communicating on a different wavelength and that they had their own plan, and as long as it involved getting Winter out of there he just didn't care._

_He pressed his hand against the blank rock wall, less than a second later it disappeared and they entered the cave and seeing nothing in the first small chamber, followed the faintly curving tunnel towards the inner cavern where the pods resided. Inside it a horrific sight met their eyes; Winter was kneeling on the floor of the cave, her eyes tightly shut and her mouth open wide as if she was screaming but no sound was coming out, she was bleeding from several places, the blood forming small pools on the stony cave floor. Desi was standing several feet away from her, one hand outstretched towards Winter's huddled body, palm out, the other pointing at Sean and the others as they stopped, horrified, in the entrance way._

_"Hello guys." Desi said, her voice mocking and her usually pretty face twisted into a cruel mask. "How's it going?" Sean let out a barely intelligible snarl of rage and ran forward, coming to a sudden halt about five feet from the two girls, unable to move any closer. "Uhuhuh" Desi said, shaking her finger at him, "No closer lover boy, she's mine." _

_She eyed Kat and Devin as they stepped up next to Sean, neither of them able to pass that point either. "Well isn't this just best reunion ever!" She cooed with a slightly demented smile, "We have the guests," she waved her hand at the three of them, "We have the entertainment," She made no visible motion with her other hand but Winter suddenly flinched, trying to curl tighter into herself, "And of course, our lovely hostess, me." She smiled sweetly at them and added, "We really should do this more often." _

_Sean suddenly felt Kat's hand in his and knew without looking that Devin was holding her other hand. Desi had time to give them one suspicious look before they raised their linked hands and smashed her and her barrier out of the way, Desi falling to the floor, her hands raised over her head in a defensive gesture. _

_Sean raced to Winter, now curled in a fetal position on the floor and bending down next to her, failed to notice Desi rising to her feet again, her hand now pointing at both of them. "You never should have loved her Sean! You were supposed to be mine!" _

_Sean turned his head towards her, fury radiating from his face as he said, "I never would have been yours Desi, never!" _

_She made a sound like an angry, wounded cat and then seemed to come to some decision, her hand shaking slightly as she opened so the palm was facing the two huddled figures on the ground. "Fine, you want to be with her? You will, forever!" _

_Her hand started to glow and Sean raised his own hand in what he knew was a futile attempt to shield them when suddenly her face went blank, her eyes showing her surprise as she toppled to the floor, Devin and Kat standing a few feet away from her prone figure, hands raised._

The room was completely silent when he looked up, pausing in his story long enough to give everyone a moment to process it, and those who had lived through it a moment to recover. Kat and Devin were wrapped tightly around each other, remembered guilt visible in their eyes, and he was surprised to see that Isabel and Michael were exchanging empathetic looks with each of them respectively. Winter had turned her head so that her face was hidden in his chest and he began to stroke her back, his own gaze locked with that of his double.

Max was shocked by the account they had just heard. Tess was certainly not his favorite person and she had done horrible things but, he didn't think she had been capable of torturing someone in cold blood. No matter how much she had hated Liz she had never tried to hurt her, physically anyways. And from what Liz had told him about Ava, it didn't seem like she was capable of it either, in fact she and Liz had even become friends in the short time Ava had been in Roswell.

As for the others, they too were all in various states of shock. Liz was mostly concerned about Winter, she had seen the expression on her face before she hid it and she was wondering if exchanging their stories was such a good thing, maybe none of them was really prepared to relive the events of their lives since they had entered the 'alien abyss'.

Isabel and Michael were both reliving their own guilt, the memories of Pierce and Whittaker still haunting them.

Maria was feeling shocked but also vindicated, she had always been the loudest voice against Tess and the fact that in another incarnation she had been evil as well proved to Maria that she had been right, and that her and Max had never been meant to be together, no matter what their names were or where they lived.

Kyle was simply trying to process the fact that while they had been dealing with all their alien crap for the past three years, they hadn't been the only ones, that wherever these four had been, they had been dealing with just as much crap, it kind of put things in perspective for him.

Sean cleared his throat and after making sure he had everyone's attention, spoke again. "We...took care of the body. And I did my best to heal Winter but, her wounds seemed oddly resistant to my powers. She was really out of it and so we took her to Kat and I's house, her parents couldn't see her in this state. Luckily it was Friday so we had Kat call her house and say that she had been invited to stay with her for the weekend. I stayed with Winter to continue to try and heal her and Kat and Devin snuck into Desi's house and packed a bag of her things, making it clear that things were missing from her room. They came back to our house and we destroyed the bag. No one had seen her at school that day, just as no one had seen Winter and we were trying to make it look like she had run away."

"If anyone thought it was suspicious that Winter had been missing that day too we had a cover story prepared that she had been visiting her estranged grandmother, she wouldn't have told her parents because they didn't want her to visit the woman and as her grandmother wasn't all there, she wasn't likely to deny the visit. Devin went home, no need to bring suspicion on the rest of us and when our parents came home Kat told them that her and Winter were having a sleep over and had already ordered pizza so they wouldn't be down for dinner or anything."

"I suffered through about a half an hour of family time before claiming massive amounts of homework and fleeing upstairs. We were up all that night trying to heal her, her physical wounds were mostly gone by morning, though..."

He paused and looked down at Winter who had shifted so she was facing the rest of the room of the again. She pulled up the sleeves of her shirt, revealing the silvery scar lines on her wrists and forearms and spoke "That's when we found out that aliens cause more permanent damage than humans do", she shook her sleeves back down and leaned back against Sean though she continued watching the rest of the room. He hugged her closer to him, glad that she seemed to be feeling better.

"We had taken care of her wounds, as much as possible any way but mentally, we didn't know what exactly Desi had done but she hadn't come out of it yet; we weren't able to get any sort of response out of her. We finally had Kat try dreamwalking again, to see if she could get in and figure out what was going on."

_Sean stared down at Winter, her head was cradled in his lap and her eyes were open but blank, she wasn't there and he didn't know where she'd gone or how to get her back. Kat was sitting across from him on the floor, her eyes closed and an intent expression on her face. He could tell the moment she made contact because her whole body went from relaxed to rigid and a line appeared between her eyes, a frown of concentration taking over her features. She remained like that for quite sometime, almost half an hour of looking between her and Winter and the clock, glad that their parents weren't up yet and so weren't likely to come looking in on them. _

_Suddenly Winter gasped and he looked down, their eyes meeting, hers filling with tears. "You're ok." She said, voice shaking as she reached up a hand towards his face. _

_"Of course I'm ok, but, you, are you ok?" He asked, joy and confusion and worry all warring within him, why was she worried about him? She tried to sit up but couldn't quite make it on her own, he helped her to lean against the bed and slid over next to her, her fingers locked with his as if she was never going to let go. _

_Kat, now returned from wherever they both had been and watching both of them with concern, her eyes warning him that whatever she had seen, it had been bad, really bad. _

_"I saw...I saw things, I saw you, you were..." She didn't finish her sentence, the tears still trickling down her face each one feeling like a knife being stabbed into his heart. He cradled her to him and exchanged a glance with Kat, his sister shaking her head, telling not to ask. _

_"Sshh, it's ok, I'm ok and so are you, we're all going to be ok." He said, rocking her back and forth._

"Desi had made her see all sorts of things I learned later, when she had recovered enough to talk about it, all of us being found by the government or other aliens, tortured, especially me, and that it was her fault, that they had been found because I healed her. Kat had barely been able to get through to her, everything in her mind was distorted and all these images." He shook his head, fighting back a surge of anger

"By Monday it was all over school, that Desi had run away, a few of the rumors did mention me and Winter since we hadn't been the only ones to notice how much she had been unhappy with the two of us being together but though we were both questioned, nothing more ever came of it, the runaway story was accepted and after a month or so it was old news, everyone just assuming that she was never coming back."

"However outside our small town someone did take notice. It was after that we all felt watched, felt like we were being followed and that our lives were no longer as safe and obscure as they had been before, just another legacy she left us."

"We did our best to live our lives as normally as possible, going to school, Winter worked at her mom's giftshop and Kat and I both found part time jobs. Devin worked occasionally at his father's company. We followed our normal routines, basketball, cheerleading, hanging out with our friends, mostly each other but we made sure to maintain our place in other social circles as well, trying not to appear as such a tight group."

He saw the nods of recognition and understanding in the other teens and knew that they understood in a way that no one else would, understood just how important and elusive 'normal' could be. Winter straightened slightly and looked up at him, "I think I can take over again, the next part is about me." She said, smiling slightly to let him know she was ok and planting a light kiss on his chin. He nodded and relaxed slightly, retreating back to being just an observer, a position he much preferred.


	5. Chapter 5

"Everything remained pretty quiet for the rest of the year, we all knew that someone had found us, found them, but it didn't seem that they were going to do anything about it but watch so other than a reasonable amount of wariness we did our best to ignore the whole thing. We stayed away from the cave, a place I really had no desire to visit anyways, and other than the occasional recreational use of powers, lived for all the world as if the four of us, instead of just one, were normal human teens."

"Prom was the most exciting event of the year, the boys suffered through the limos and tuxes and flower buying and us girls has the time of our lives picking out dresses and, with Kat here, doing our hair and makeup was a snap."

Liz, Maria, and even Isabel, all grinned at that one, her and Kat exchanging smug nods.

"We all suffered through the rounds of picture taking by the parents, at each house of course. And enjoyed the highlight of the evening, Kat and Devin being crowned the Junior Class's Prom King and Queen."

She smiled at Kat's half blushing, half proud face and then grinned at the faint mocking applause Michael bestowed upon the two of them, Maria slapping his hands causing the rest of the room to laugh, she was glad to see that the ice had broken, that their story, however hard it had been to relive, had it seemed, gained their trust just as she had been hoping.

"That summer was tough but only because we were all split up, Devin's dad took him to Europe, I was visiting family in California and Sean and Kat were stuck at their parent's cabin by a lake north of our town. We all talked every night on the phone, worried because we all, excluding Devin, could tell we were still being watched and were worried that whoever it was would choose to do whatever it was they wanted to do while we are all separated and vulnerable. Sean, especially, was worried about me since I had no alien powers at my disposal to protect myself with."

"However, we all survived the summer unscathed and probably surprised our parents with how happy we were to have school starting again." She said with a lopsided smile. "Then, just a little ways into our senior year, everything changed again."

_Winter laughed as Sean 'danced' around her, his rhythmic abilities, or rather lack thereof, amusing everyone in range. The party was in full swing and everyone was smiling, in part she was sure due to the rather large quantities of alcohol available to those who chose to partake of it. Sean and the others had experimented with alcohol on their own, luckily out of range of people and knew that it wasn't something they should ever do again. So, there was absolutely nothing to blame for his current exuberant capering. _

_She shook her head and suddenly the room spun around her for a moment and she almost fell, feeling as though her temperature had suddenly been raised about fifty degrees. Sean stopped dancing and touched her shoulder in concern, she flinched away, shocked by the pain that ran through her at his touch. He felt her pain through their connection and without a word pushed a path through the crowd, leading her outside, into the cool night air. As soon as they passed the door she collapsed on the ground, leaning against the wall and staring at her hand, it was moving in and out of focus, coming in really close and then appearing really far away even though she knew she hadn't moved it. _

_She heard Sean gasp and realized he was pulling her away from the wall, the pain of his touch lost in the pain of the steadily increasing heat of her body. She realized he was trying to show her something and struggled to make her eyes focus; the wall she had been leaning against had an impression of her melted into it. It was a steel portable building, and somehow she had heated it to its melting point, the edges of the impression were still cherry red. _

_Sean pushed a button on his cell phone and held it to his ear, waving his free hand over the wall and returning it to its original state, his eyes never leaving her face, worry lines etched around them. "Devin? Get Kat and meet us at the cave, something's happening to Winter." He barely waited for the affirmative response before hanging up and guiding her towards his car, opening the door for her but being careful not to touch her. _

_She hesitated before getting in, "What if I...melt your car?" He frowned, then glancing around to make sure no one else had come out, held his hand out towards the seat, a shimmering green barrier appearing over it and the floor where her feet would be._

_"Can you sit on that? Does it hurt?" _

_She tested it with her hand and then nodded at him, carefully sitting down and doing her best to ignore the increase in her pain. "Let's go." She said, giving him as brave a smile as she could muster. He shut her door and got in himself, putting the car in gear and maneuvering his way around the haphazardly parked cars. He pulled onto the road and a few miles later turned onto the highway, retracing a route he hadn't followed in almost two years._

"The cave was exactly as it had been, none of us had gone near it until now for fear of drawing attention to it and everything they owned that related to their heritage was in that cave. What Sean was after was the book. We beat Kat and Devin to the cave and while I sat on the ground and tried not to move in an attempt to stave off the dizzy attacks, he was frantically flipping through it."

_By the time the other two had arrived he had reached the section on their powers and was intending to pass it by when Kat took the book from him. _

_"What's going on Sean, why are we here?" Devin was standing next to where she was sitting, huddled by the hollow in the cave wall where they kept the book and the stones, glancing worriedly at her in between watching the other two and the entrance to the cave to make sure no one had followed them. _

_She could tell Sean was resisting the urge to come to her and instead leaned defeatedly against the rock wall. "Something's happening to Winter. She said she's been having dizzy spells and hot flashes for almost a week now and at the party she..." He looked at her once more and then back at Kat "I think she's changing, I don't know how but she can do things now, or, well, one thing at least." _

_A faint chuckle interrupted him and Winter raised her head, giving a pained smile, "__Really, I've always been able to melt solid steel, I just didn't want to intimidate you all by telling you.__" _

_Devin and Kat smiled back but Sean just looked more worried, "I think it was me, I can't even touch her now." He leaned his head backwards too fast and knocked it against the cave wall causing the other two to wince though he didn't seem to notice the pain. _

_Kat touched his arm, "We'll figure it out, I'm sure she'll be ok." He just stared at her, a hangdog look in his brown eyes. She ignored it and sat down with the book, reading through it much more slowly than Sean had been while the other three watched, stopping every now and then on a particular passage until finally she looked up at them and smiled, "I think I know what's going on."_

Winter shifted slightly in Sean's arms, the next bit was a little more technical and scientific and science, while interesting, especially in this case, just wasn't her thing. "Now, we knew that their powers were of human rather than alien origin, powers that were in the human genetic code but that as a race we hadn't evolved to the point where we were even aware of them, much less able to access them. But while the powers were human, the energy that fueled those powers was wholly alien, a part of the essence that they had inherited from their former lives. And each of them had their own energy signature, all of their energies were different which was one of the reasons that their powers were different, at least some of them."

"Also, the type of individual powers they each had was determined by the sorts of abilities they had in their former lives. Antarians do have abilities, just as someday we humans will. And from what was in the book we've guessed that the shapeshifters that came to earth retain those abilities, that whatever powers they possess here, are similar to the powers you hybrids possessed on Antar."

She saw the other three hybrids exchanging glances as they processed this information, they were certainly understanding it far faster than she had and even Liz seemed to be interestedly following every word she said though Kyle and Maria had similarly glazed expressions on their faces.

"So, whenever they used their powers they were expending some of that alien energy and if they used them on a human, it was possible for that energy to 'contaminate' the individual. When Sean had healed me, some of his essence, his energy, had been transferred over to me, and given long enough, that energy was changing me. Beginning to do what thousands of years of evolution would accomplish for the rest of the human race."

"Now, I, though I had a 4.0 and was probably what people would have called a geek when it came to school, was not into science. However," here she paused and grinned at Kat, "Our lovely and popular alien princess was quite the science nerd at heart, though she took pains to conceal it, and it was her that managed to figure most of this out."

"She and Devin left the cave and fetched a microscope and a few other things from her house, making sure not to disturb her parents who were sound asleep at that point and returned a little less than an hour later, bringing some food for everyone as well. They already knew their blood cells were different; they had studied themselves years ago in an attempt to isolate every factor of their biology that could give them away and prevent anyone else from noticing any of them."

"So we took a sample of my blood and compared it to one of theirs. The results proved that Kat was just as smart as we thought she was. My blood had changed. It didn't look quite like theirs, my cells were still a normal human pink vs. their green but their shape had changed, they now looked exactly like theirs did, even grouped the same way. I was no longer quite human." Liz's expression had become more and more introspective and analytical as she revealed just how changed they were, and strangely enough Kyle too was just as involved in her description."

"The pain had subsided and as long as Sean and I stayed away from each other the flashes of heat seemed to stay away. Kat theorized that until my body had adapted to the changes it was going through, being near Sean was causing the alien energy in me to react, being near Kat and Devin didn't hurt since it wasn't their energy that had changed me. Over the next few weeks we experimented, had me try to do the things they could do but apparently being able to produce heat was the only physical power that I had gained. As for mental abilities, I had always been able to get flashes from Sean and I could connect with him to a certain extent but not like the other three could."

"They always knew where each of the others was and if they were in danger, as long as they weren't blocking, and since the incident with Desi they had worked on increasing those abilities until they could communicate with each other mentally if necessary, it was more communication by images then true telepathy but it was significantly less traceable then a cell phone. And now that I had changed, I began to be able to tap into those connections as well; I could now sense Devin and Kat as well as Sean and was beginning to be able to communicate with them as well though my attempts at it succeeded only fifty percent of the time."

"I was having a lot of fun trying to send them images during classes, though their reactions to some of those images got them in trouble a few times until they finally decided to block me out while we were in school." She grinned, "It took Sean a little longer to get to that point but then, I think he rather enjoyed the images I was sending him, once he finally got over himself to the point where I could send them." The others gave her a puzzled look and she knew Sean was blushing behind her.

"When he realized the ramifications of my change, the fact that I was now in just as much danger as they were since the government would be just as happy to dissect me now as they would be to dissect him he decided that I shouldn't be placed in any more danger than was necessary and even though I had finally gotten a hold of my new abilities to the point where we could be close again he refused. Saying that us being together was what had put me in this much danger in the first place and that he needed to stay away from me so that nothing else happened to put me in danger."

She shook her head, the expression on her face clearly showing the exasperation she felt at his past stupidity, causing Maria and Liz to giggle. "Kat and Devin were on my side throughout this and continually told him how stupid he was being though he persisted in being dense and refused to listen. Luckily certain events that were happening at that time changed his mind."

"Two weeks after all of this had happened, and while I was still working on controlling my powers though the dizziness and hot flashes had gone, an exchange student arrived from Spain to study English at our school. Since I was the best student in the Honors English program, my teacher decided I would be the perfect tour guide and could show the young man around, help him with his studies, etc. He of course was charming, funny, and devastatingly handsome, I was the envy of all the girls in school since they knew Sean and I were on the outs and I was going to have this lovely young man all to myself."

Kat nodded to confirm his gorgeousness when the other three girls shot her a questioning look. "He was absolutely delicious." She said, earning a faintly jealous "Hey!" from Devin. She just laughed and kissed him, then gestured for Winter to continue.

"He was also a ladies man and was flirting shamelessly with me by the end of his first day there. I didn't flirt back, at first, but I didn't protest at his doing so either and after the appropriate amount of time had passed for me to 'recover' from being dumped, about three days, I finally began to return the attention, knowing full well that it would drive Sean crazy."

All the girls in the room nodded, exchanging knowing glances while the guys just grinned at the increasingly red color of Sean's face.

"I let him take me on a few dates, conspicuously public places of course where I knew we would be seen and talked about." She added with a wink.

"This lasted about two weeks until one day, at lunch, we were sitting on the lawn in front of the school with Devin and Kat when he leaned over and kissed me in front of everyone, including Sean."

She was unable to hold back a laugh and just grinned at the others when the males gave her odd looks, the girls merely grinning with her, "I'm sorry, it was just so funny. He stormed over, ripped the guy off of me and then pulled me to my feet and proceeded to swoop me into his arms and passionately kiss me to the applause of every one of the students nearby"

"It's true." Devin said, grinning at the now furiously blushing hero of the story.

"I, of course, relented immediately." Winter said with a lofty expression on her face which quickly dissolved into repressed giggles as Sean tickled her until she cracked, "Ok, ok, I made him suffer for a bit, which, was only fair I think."

The girls all nodded while the guys gave Sean sympathetic looks, they'd all been on the receiving end of 'only fair suffering' at one time or another.

At Sean's snort Winter turned around, one eyebrow raised "If you hadn't been so stubborn about 'protecting me' in the first place then none of it would have happened at all now would it?"

He intelligently declined to answer and she gave him a little triumphant smile before relenting and giving him a nice long kiss before turning back around to receive the amused grins of her audience, and in time to catch the identical winks that Michael and Devin sent her lover.

She gave them mock glares before continuing her story. "After that our time was spent acting as normally as possible when in public, and experimenting with our powers in the cave whenever we could get away. We discovered that the other three could draw power from each other through their connection and that while I could not draw power from them, they could now draw it from me which could be extremely useful in a situation where they actually needed their powers for defense, it could buy the extra time we might need to escape."

"We did our best to perfect both our method of communication and our control over all of our powers, me frequently acting as observer and cheerleader since the extent of my powers was, and is, rather limited compared to theirs.

"Our Senior year came to an end all too quickly. We had all decided to travel together for a year before attending college, mostly for fun and, as we told our parents, 'to broaden our minds and expose ourselves to the various cultures of America'. We were going to hit all the National Monuments and the like, and of course all the fun places too, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Vegas, Hollywood, New York, plus visiting the various colleges we were interested in and Sean and Kat's older brother and his family in Texas. However, before we started this road trip across America we were going to take a trip to the beaches of California as a joint Graduation present from all our parents."

"Now, to rewind a bit. Kat had expressed a concern when we first learning about the changes that were happening to me that I had not only received some of Sean's energy but some of Desi's as well since she had used her powers on me. We hadn't seen any evidence of this as of yet. We had decided, tentatively of course, that since Sean's powers were physical it made sense that the one I picked up was as well and since I evidenced no special mental powers, simply the ones we all had, we concluded that Desi's attack on me hadn't affected me on anything more than a surface level. However, we were wrong."

_Winter and Kat lay on large beach towels, soaking in the sun and lazily watching the two boys chase a Frisbee through the crashing surf, occasionally exchanging comments and laughs but mostly just enjoying the absolute lack of anything they had to do at that moment. School was done, at least for a year, they didn't think they had been followed to California and life was good. The sun was warm, the sand was endless and the ocean was a beautiful and ever-changing wonder, a far cry from the endless hills and fields of home. While they had been distracted by contemplating the fabulousness of it all the boys had managed to 'find' a bucket and proceeded to dump freezing cold seawater over both of them before taking off down the beach. The girls spluttered and then leapt up to chase after them swearing revenge in between bouts of breathless laughter as they pounded across the sand. _

_Searing pain pierced through Winter's head and her eyes grew blurry as a cacophony of thoughts and feelings sprung to life in her mind, blanketing every thought of her own. She fell to her knees, her hands over her ears trying to block out the ceaseless barrage. Sean felt some of what she was feeling through their connection and turning around raced back down the beach towards her and Kat who was kneeling next to her on the sand, trying to get her attention. _

_Winter was muttering loudly, disconnected sentences that didn't make much sense, every now and then a comprehensible phrase coming through though those weren't all that sensical either. Other people on the beach had noticed and were beginning to gather, a few of them asking if she was ok but all of them standing back a ways, clearly wary of this apparent crazy fit. _

_Sean reached them, Devin not far behind and tried to connect to her, the sudden rush of images and feelings and bits of thoughts nearly causing him to fall over, he closed off the connection and had a brief mental conversation with the others. They all three reached out mentally and pushed her into unconsciousness, stopping the muttering and causing her to slump limply to the ground. Sean picked her up and followed Kat and Devin through the small crowd of people, reassuring those who asked that she was ok, just a really bad migraine and hurrying as fast as they could to their car. _

_Their hotel room, or suite rather, had a back way in, courtesy of the power of Devin's father's name and money and they went in that way, letting the valet take the car. They had reached the room and laid Winter on the bed when Sean realized they had left their bag in the car, he went to get it after firmly admonishing the other two to not take their eyes off of her, two minutes after he left they 'heard' his scream through their connection and then he was silent, the spot where he usually was in their mind gone, too faint to connect with. _

_Kat was out the door before Devin could stop her, one last "Don't leave her!" the only thing she said. He almost punched the wall and punched the cushion of a chair instead, she was right, he couldn't just leave Winter here like this but what had happened to Sean? And what was going to happen to Kat? She was going to get herself caught or worse by whoever had gotten Sean; she would take too many risks for her brother, always had..._

"It turned out we had been followed to California, as we learned later, by the government or rather by a secret branch hidden within it, made up of members of the FBI, the CIA, a few state and local law enforcers, and some civilian contractors, mostly scientists. We had seen the trials on TV two years ago with that Agent Pierce guy and knowing that there had been a group hunting out there, hunting for us, was terrifying, but since Congress had voted to disband it we had hoped the government no longer posed a threat provided we did nothing to draw their attention to us."

"However the government, and this Pierce we assume, had only been aware of part of the organization. There was a special unit in the FBI, but some of its members were part of a larger organization, an organization that has no name so as to prevent anyone from learning it. It was this organization that had been watching us since Desi disappeared; it was this organization that had taken Sean."

"When I had collapsed on the beach it had made us vulnerable, they knew we had powers and they knew, we can only assume from contact with other aliens, that our powers were enhanced when we were together, with me out of the picture our powers were decreased and when Sean left the hotel room alone it provided an opportunity they couldn't pass up. While Devin kept watch over me, Kat was trying to find Sean, trying to follow him through their faint connection."

The others were trying to keep up with the story, things seemed to keep happening one right after the other and trying to process the ramifications of each of them while continuing to listen was proving a challenge. This information about the governmental group was the biggest; the implications of it were staggering.

Before Winter could continue Kyle tentatively raised a hand, causing her to smile and gesture for him to speak. "Could we take a break? Get something to eat, have some time to process a bit."

Winter blushed, a guilty expression visible in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, you all must be starving, I totally forgot, and yes, time to process would definitely be good."

The others all smiled, Kyle replying with "No, its ok, we all got caught up in the story, but, seriously, my stomach is like eating itself."

Everyone chuckled and Winter grinned, "Well we have room service so if you want to tell Devin here what you would like he could call and order."

He gave her the squinty eyes "Thanks for volunteering me Sis." He said in a sarcastic voice, she smiled sweetly at him and gave a gracious half bow from her position on the floor.

"So...what kinda food do you all feel like?"


End file.
